'lumps' on shins after run

Conanius

Conanius

Conanius

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
12,875
Hi All,

Trying to get my fitness back up ready for playing football in September, and decided to go for a very gentle jog yesterday (3 miles, 30 minutes, shows you how gentle!) and when I finished i had lumps on my shins, you could 'push' these down and it just felt like a bit of liquid, but when I mentioned it yesterday in conversation everyone was like 'er, thats not normal'

I've had it happen in the past, but just wondered if its something I should keep an eye on?

Accept this is NOT a medical thread, and just curious as to whether anyone else has had this happen. I will NOT use this thread to decide if I go to the docs!
 
almost certainly as said above shin splints, now go to the doctors for some proper adivce before you do long term damage.
 
Some people use foam rollers on them, hurts like HELL but sometimes helps.

I get shin splints....But I just avoid running now :o
 
these arent 100% shin splints,

I ran quite a lot on the roads when i started running and shin splints came to my mind but after a couple (understatement here) of Dr visits i finally got a proper name for it.

Scaring of the Tibia bone, bassically.

What happends is clusters form or scar tissue along the tibia bone/shin bone due to the stresses placed on it.

it doesnt mean you have shin splints so ignore people who say you have it without proper investigation.

1: Get a X-ray, dont let the Dr give you the rubbish talk about "X rays having negative affects and isnt the best course of ection all the time"

2: Stop running for 2 weeks, dont cycle dont do any inpact sports, only swimming if you must.

3: Do recovery exercises ASAP, look at running times .com foot exercises ie point and circles ect.

4: check your flexability, this can cause you to put more strain on the shins due to weak calfs or bad flexability..in my case weak calfs caused more pressure on the shin.

So to sum up....dont think it is shin splints, it most likely is just scaring of the tibia.

RICE,+take some pills to reduce the swelling if any.

Then get back onto the recovery ASAP, sitting around isnt going to fix it, you need to put in a lot of hard work to recover, and when you do recover which you will, YOU WILL BE STRONGER.

My shins are hard as brass balls now, and doing recovery exercises that people think are for girls makes me knock 5 mins of my PBs, so whos laughing now when i use a pink band with my leg lifts?:D
 
Also...

If you were going for a typical thudding along jog, your gait was probably terrible.

Get it analysed if you can, or simply try running more on your midfoot and not making contact with your lead foot so far in front of you.
 
Sorry but Im going to be pedantic here....
Shin splints ISN'T a diagnosis, its simply an umbrella term that many people, including medical practitioners use to encompass all kind of [usually] exercise induced lower limb pain.

There are many different classifications/causes of the pain :-
ECS @(exertional compartment syndrome), MTSS (medial tbial stress syndrome), Periostitis (inflammation of the surface covering the bone) tendinopathy of one or more of the folowing: FHL, FDL, Tib post, Tib ant, EHL, ED, peronei tertius, and even stress fractures.
All of the above can be classed under 'shin splints'.

shadowcreaper said:
Scaring of the Tibia bone, bassically.

What happends is clusters form or scar tissue along the tibia bone/shin bone due to the stresses placed on it.

it doesnt mean you have shin splints so ignore people who say you have it without proper investigation.
Click to expand...
The bone doesn't actually scar (bone is one of the only tissues that repairs itself with normal tissue and not scar tissue) but when the periostium gets irritated it can start to pull away from the surface of the bone and fatty deposits can form underneath it). You can also get extra bone growth along the tibia from the pull of tight muscles (similarly to Osgood-Schlatter Disease and Sindig-Larsen-Johanssen disease) but again it is normal healthy bone (there is no such thing as bone scar tissue)

shadowcreaper said:
1: Get a X-ray, dont let the Dr give you the rubbish talk about "X rays having negative affects and isnt the best course of ection all the time"
Click to expand...

Don't do this!
Stress fractures can occur (especially if you are quite skinny ie your bones have a small cross sectional area) but X rays are virtually useless for these as they are very hard if not impossibe to spot until several weeks later when callus starts to form and then may be picked up on the xray. Bone density scans are more frequently the investigation of choice in 'shin splints' as stress fractures show up more clearly due to the increase in bone forming activity at the fracture site.

shadowcreaper said:
2: Stop running for 2 weeks, dont cycle dont do any inpact sports, only swimming if you must.

3: Do recovery exercises.

4: check your flexability, this can cause you to put more strain on the shins due to weak calfs or bad flexability..in my case weak calfs caused more pressure on the shin.

RICE,
Click to expand...

This is very good advice though, i would suggest reducing mileage or frequency of runs first before complete avoidance but point 4 is a massive factor in 'shin splints'. Tightness in calves, shin muscles, hamstrings, quads, hip flexors etc. can all put extra stress on the lower leg and weakness in calves, shin muscles glutes etc also can.

It would be worthwhile having a look through ice's mobility thread to help improve any flexibility issues and I would also be interested in what your GP says.
 
delbuenno said:
Sorry but Im going to be pedantic here....
Shin splints ISN'T a diagnosis, its simply an umbrella term that many people, including medical practitioners use to encompass all kind of [usually] exercise induced lower limb pain.

+1 its a general term used.

Don't do this!
Stress fractures can occur (especially if you are quite skinny ie your bones have a small cross sectional area) but X rays are virtually useless for these as they are very hard if not impossibe to spot until several weeks later when callus starts to form and then may be picked up on the xray. Bone density scans are more frequently the investigation of choice in 'shin splints' as stress fractures show up more clearly due to the increase in bone forming activity at the fracture site.

I say have a X ray as you can still pick up stress fractures, even micro ones along the bone, a bone density scans are VERY rarely going to be done by the NHS and i dout you will ever get one from them, unless you offer to pay for it yourself?

I suggestion X ray as you can still "put yourself at ease" if you get one done and find no visable signs of damage, this will help in at least putting your mind to rest and also at the same time making sure there isnt a small fracture in the bone, which can be picked up with X ray .

also it free of charge..

It would be worthwhile having a look through ice's mobility thread to help improve any flexibility issues and I would also be interested in what your GP says.
Click to expand...

Youtube is good, but running times is best for helping with these things, they have a whole section of how to avoid shin splints and how to recover from them, very good advice.

GP remember is a general practitioner, so they wont really know that much about sporting injuries and will most likely refer you onto someone else, in my case NHS physiotherapist, who gave me orthotics, which in turn ruined my running, so he was useless.

So be sure to get second opinions, and gl with recovery.
 
shadowcreaper said:
I say have a X ray as you can still pick up stress fractures, even micro ones along the bone, a bone density scans are VERY rarely going to be done by the NHS and i dout you will ever get one from them, unless you offer to pay for it yourself?

I suggestion X ray as you can still "put yourself at ease" if you get one done and find no visable signs of damage, this will help in at least putting your mind to rest and also at the same time making sure there isnt a small fracture in the bone, which can be picked up with X ray .
Click to expand...
No, honestly, stress fractures are only visible around 15-35% of the time on the initial xray and still only around 70% are visible when there is callus forming so there is up to 85% chance the first xray would miss it! So it doesn't rule anything out or put you at ease.
Bone scans (bone scintigraphy) and MRI scans are much more sensitive and you get them both on the NHS. However, in the OPs case as he doesn't even report any pain yet an xray would be a complete waste of time and money. The clinical presentation is often much more reliable anyway things like symptom pattern and simply tapping on the bone etc. would give more of an indication of a stres fracture than an initial (early) xray.
Unfortunately X-rays are not reliable enough to rule out things, they should only be used to confirm the presence of things.
 
shadowcreaper said:
these arent 100% shin splints,

I ran quite a lot on the roads when i started running and shin splints came to my mind but after a couple (understatement here) of Dr visits i finally got a proper name for it.

Scaring of the Tibia bone, bassically.

What happends is clusters form or scar tissue along the tibia bone/shin bone due to the stresses placed on it.

it doesnt mean you have shin splints so ignore people who say you have it without proper investigation.

1: Get a X-ray, dont let the Dr give you the rubbish talk about "X rays having negative affects and isnt the best course of ection all the time"

2: Stop running for 2 weeks, dont cycle dont do any inpact sports, only swimming if you must.

3: Do recovery exercises ASAP, look at running times .com foot exercises ie point and circles ect.

4: check your flexability, this can cause you to put more strain on the shins due to weak calfs or bad flexability..in my case weak calfs caused more pressure on the shin.

So to sum up....dont think it is shin splints, it most likely is just scaring of the tibia.

RICE,+take some pills to reduce the swelling if any.

Then get back onto the recovery ASAP, sitting around isnt going to fix it, you need to put in a lot of hard work to recover, and when you do recover which you will, YOU WILL BE STRONGER.

My shins are hard as brass balls now, and doing recovery exercises that people think are for girls makes me knock 5 mins of my PBs, so whos laughing now when i use a pink band with my leg lifts?:D
Click to expand...

I had the same issue (I think it was microtears in the tibial tendon, rather than scarring of the tibia itself). Took four months of rest to fix it :(
 
could be shin splints (mts) or muscle hernia by sound of it facia tissue trauma or similar.

do you ice after exercise that will help normally but get proper advice if its a recurring problem


added

to add have you tried orthotics and had a gait analysis done may be worth it if its a reoccouring problem
 
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problem is the chance are a GP wont know he/she will just say rest or take these anti inflams etc

you need to see a specialist in that area if poss.

but go see a gp. then ask advice from a specialist in sports medicine / sports physio / etc

can only generalise on here cause of forum rules and wouldnt go into a full diagnosis or referal due to the fact that it is remote. but those 2 options would be preferable if you dont have access to the above..
 
Did you find out what the issue was??

It could be many things. Most joggers get issues with their shins at some point if they run on concrete.

Personally I doubt its shin splints as thats usually painful and tender.
 
like poster said about lots of joggers get it because they fail to properly build up their running before going out onto the roads.

myself included but i just was a idiot and thought i could run sub 14 min 2 miles without ever running,= pain and more pain:)

Best thing is to start on grass then add some hill reps before going onto the roads, as the hill reps re great for building up those little muscles that stabalise your foot as it strikes the ground.
 
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